Saina Nehwal, Indian shuttler who was out of action for past two years due to chronic knee condition has announced her retirement from competitive badminton. This announcement has came as a shock for many badminton fans. Former world No. 1's last played a competitive match was Singapore Open in 2023 but did not formally announce her retirement at the time.
Saina said on a podcast, " “I had stopped playing two years back. I actually felt that I entered the sport on my own terms and left on my own terms, so there was no need to announce it. If you are not capable of playing anymore, that's it. It's fine.” Sania said the decision was forced by a severe degeneration of her knee, which made sustained high-intensity training impossible. Citing cartilage degeneration and arthritis, she explained to her parents and coaches that she could no longer continue, acknowledging the difficulty. She felt a formal retirement announcement was unnecessary, as her absence from competition would make it clear. The Olympic medallist stated that her knees could no longer endure even limited training, making her decision unavoidable.
Sania didn't consider a formal announcement necessary, feeling her time was up because her knee could no longer handle the strain. She elaborated that her knee would give out within one or two hours of training, swelling and making it too difficult to continue pushing, when previously she trained eight to nine hours. She concluded that she had reached her limit.
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A severe knee injury at the Rio 2016 Olympics hampered Saina's career. Despite a successful return marked by a 2017 World Championships bronze and a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold, persistent knee problems continued to impede her progress. In 2024, she disclosed that arthritis and cartilage loss in her knees made it exceedingly challenging to maintain the training intensity necessary for elite competition.